Friday, September 13, 2024
AZLE — During this month’s Azle Area Chamber of Commerce meeting, Director Jennifer Herrington announced the organization has raised $222,901 of the $950,000 needed to build its new office space on Main Street. This is an increase of $7,451 from July’s luncheon.
The chamber welcomes new businesses to the community, facilitates interactions between different business owners and public officials and has a stated goal of making Azle a better community. Since the AACOC’s founding in 1959, it has had offices in several locations across the city, but it has never owned an office building.
Currently, the chamber meets at the 404 Main Place event venue. With membership approaching 400, the chamber board decided, last year, it would soon need its own dedicated space in Azle. During the March 2024 luncheon, chamber leaders unveiled plans and renderings for such a development. The building will be located at 256 W. Main St., at Main Street’s intersection with Locust Street.
The proposed land is just a little larger than two-fifths of an acre. The building will be 2,400 square feet with an additional 685 feet in porches. The spot will feature a human sundial on the Tarrant-Parker County line. This interactive feature will allow people to stand in the middle of the sundial and tell what time it is based on their shadow.
As part of its fundraising efforts, the AACOC announced that sponsors of the project will be permanently recognized on a wall of honor in the office. The initial sponsorship level is promoter, which begins at $2,500. The next sponsorship level is groundbreaker, beginning at $5,000, followed by pace setter at $10,000. For $25,000, sponsors will be given the developer title. The next sponsorship level is visionary at $50,000 and the highest sponsorship level, legacy partner, starts at $100,000.
The chamber also hopes to sell personalized engravings for the 200 standard bricks and 100 large bricks that will pave the walkway leading up to the building. The standard engraved walkway brick is available for $300 and the large walkway brick, which is twice as large, costs $500.
To contact the AACOC, call 817-444-1112, email info@azlechamber.com, or visit 404 W. Main St., Suite 102 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The office closes an hour early on Fridays. More information about the chamber can be found at www.azlechamber.com/home.
